16-Year-Old Climate Activist Greta Thunberg Nominated For Nobel Peace Prize

Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg, 16, was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize on Wednesday for her tireless work combating global warming . 

“We have proposed Greta Thunberg because if we do nothing to halt climate change it will be the cause of wars, conflict and refugees,” Norwegian lawmaker Freddy André Øvstegård told Norwegian news outlet VG . “Greta Thunberg has launched a mass movement which I see as a major contribution to peace.”

After Sweden had its hottest summer on record, Thunberg went on strike in August to force politicians to act. She has since inspired hundreds of thousands to do the same, creating the #FridaysForFuture movement, which has enlisted thousands of young people to skip school this Friday to march for policy action on environmental issues.

Thunberg spoke at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Poland  this past December where she told lawmakers they were “not mature enough to tell it like it is .” The teen activist also spoke at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland , in January. 

“Honoured and very grateful for this nomination,” Thunberg tweeted early Thursday morning.  

In addition to Øvstegård, Norwegian lawmakers Mona Fagerås and Lars Haltbrekken also nominated the teen activist. 

“I think we have reached a tipping point where enough scientists are telling it like it is and not being so afraid of being alarmist,” Thunberg told New Scientist on Wednesday, adding it’s been frustrating that many people are paying more attention to her age than the issue at hand.

“They talk about our age, our looks and so on,” she continued. “The emissions are still rising and that is all that matters. Nothing has happened, that is crucial to remember.”

Malala Yousafzai became the youngest Nobel laureate in 2014 at 17 years old. The activist, who survived a Taliban assassination attempt in 2012, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her “struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education,” according to the Nobel website . 

“I want you to act as you would in a crisis,” Thunberg wrote in an essay for The Guardian in January. “I want you to act as if our house is on fire. Because it is.”